


Kindergarten Blues

by cecilia095



Category: New Girl
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-14
Updated: 2015-12-14
Packaged: 2018-05-06 15:51:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5422922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cecilia095/pseuds/cecilia095
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This whole 'Kindergarten' thing should come with a warning. For the parents.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kindergarten Blues

**Author's Note:**

> This isn't really connected to my last fic, but I kinda love the idea of l'il Elsie Miller, so I had to stick with it in some fashion.
> 
> Like I said in reply to some of your comments: I plan to write as much Jess/Nick Fanfiction as I possibly can, so I hope you all stick around to read it. 
> 
> xx

They wake up late on Elsie's first day of Kindergarten because... well... they're  _always_ late. It's a thing. Step one: Become a parent. Step two: Suddenly become super, super horrible at being on time to things.

Jess sprints out of bed and brews herself a pot of coffee as fast as humanly possible even though Nick runs into the kitchen and says, "We don't have time, Jessica!" 

She responds with a, "We  _would've_ had time if  _someone_ didn't initiate rounds two and three last night,  _Miller_."

He laughs because they've been married for almost four years and she still calls him ' _Miller_ ' when she's frustrated at him.

Despite his protests, Nick pulls Jess' arm away from the counter and says, "I've got it" and then tells him to go wake up their still-sleeping five-year-old. 

Jess shakes a grumpy Elsie awake. "It's your first day of  _Kindergarten_ , baby girl," she says, but the ever-so-expressive Elsie grunts and shoos her mom's arm away from her face. "Elsie, you've been talking about Kindergarten all summer, and now that it's finally time, you don't want to go?"

"No."

A few more pulls and tugs and, "But school is fun, baby!"'s, and Elsie's out of bed, arms stretched in the air as she lets Jess take off her polka dot pajamas and slip her into the pink dress with the white bow she was just  _so_ excited to wear when they bought it. Now she's all: "Whatever, mommy," and Jess sighs because when in the world did her baby girl learn to say the word ' _whatever_ ' like that?

Jess is behind Elsie throwing her hair into two French braids when her phone rings. "Cece, what's up?" she answers, the phone sandwiched between her ear and her shoulder, her voice muffled because she's got a ponytail holder between her lips as both hands are tangled in Elsie's hair.

"We're at your apartment," Cece says. "Benjy's been ready since seven o'clock. This kid is  _itching_ to get to school. Is Elsie ready?"

"Umm... almost," Jess lies, and she curses Cece and Schmidt for being experts at this; for being  _way_ better than she and Nick are at convincing a Kindergartener school is fun. (Whenever Elsie asks about school, Nick's usually like, "Not necessary, kiddo", and Jess whacks his arm and says, "Not true!".)

Jess ties two ponytails around Elsie's long, brown hair and claps her hands together. Not bad for a five minute French braiding job. "Okay, Elsie, where's your backpack, honey?"

Elsie looks around the room in confusion, and Jess sighs, because it's 8:02 and they need to be at school by 8:30 and she's not even sure what to pack the kid for lunch yet and the Mary Janes she let Elsie pick out  _definitely_ don't match what she's got on, and -

"I have the backpack!" Nick holds it up like they held up Baby Simba in  _The Lion King_ , and Elsie just says, "Daddy,  _gimme_ " and stomps her foot, folding her arms underneath her chest patiently as Nick hands the pink backpack over. She's definitely Jess' kid.

"Cece and Schmidt are already here with Benjamin," Jess says with a sigh, and Nick tells her it's okay, because Elsie's white Mary Janes are by the door, her lunch is all packed - peanut butter and jelly, cut into stars, because that's the only way she'll eat it - and there's a cup of coffee waiting for Jess on the counter. 

"It's in a to-go cup and everything," he says, and Jess leans over and smooches the side of his mouth in silent appreciation. He's better at this than she is.

—

This whole 'Kindergarten' thing should come with a warning. For the parents. 

They're all walking to school because it's close to Jess and Nick's apartment, and Cece doesn't mind the walk because she just had a baby girl four months ago and this is her motivation to walk off the baby weight. 

"Look at the two of them!" says Jess, her hand over her heart, and Schmidt tells her to stop being dramatic. "I'm sorry, but before we know it, it'll be their college graduation, and they won't need us at  _all_ , and then comes _marriage_ and  _grand-babies_ and -"

Nick shushes his frantic wife, slipping one arm around her waist and tugging her in. Elsie and Benjy are walking like, a zillion steps ahead of their parents (fine, like,  _five_ ), and Jess' heart is racing. Their little girl is in  _Kindergarten_. Elsie Miller is a  _Kindergartener_. 

"Are you not fazed by this?" Jess asks Cece.

Cece shrugs. "I'm just excited he'll be out of the house for five hours," she half-jokes.

Schmidt stops the kids in the middle of the sidewalk and makes them pose for a picture. Benjy happily complies, throwing a thumbs-up to the camera and all, because he's mini-Schmidt and that's  _exactly_ what big-Schmidt would do. Elsie rolls her eyes (again, when did Jess' five-year-old learn to roll her eyes like that?) and says, "Uncle Schmidt,  _no_ , come on, let's go."

Schmidt snaps a quick picture despite Elsie's protest and then throws his hands up in defeat. "Someone's excited to get to school!"

"No. I'm excited for the apples and caramel daddy promised me when I get home."

They get to the entrance of Benjy and Elsie's school and the two are about to race inside until Jess shouts, "WAIT!" 

Nick widens his eyes, and then so do Cece and Schmidt, and Jess crouches down to Elsie's level and grabs onto both of her hands. "You don't want mommy to walk you in?" she asks, and Elsie just shakes her head. "You know, big girls still let their mommy's walk them into Kindergarten."

"You can walk me to the  _steps_ ," Elsie says sternly, and Jess forgets she's five sometimes. 

"You're embarrassing her, honey," Nick says, shaking his head at his insistent wife. "She wants to walk in with Benjy, right baby?"

"Uh huh."

"Benjy, you'll be okay if daddy and mommy don't walk you inside, right?" Cece asks, just to make sure, and her kid is all too quick to be like, "Yeah!" and grab his Power Rangers backpack by each handle, ready to zoom inside of the school.

"See? Benjy doesn't need  _his_  daddy and mommy," Elsie says matter-of-factly, and Jess is about to start weeping right there.

"Are you  _sure_ , Elsie?"

"Uh huh."

"One more picture?" asks Jess, pulling her phone out from her purse despite her daughter chanting, "No, mommy!" at her.

Tears pool in Jess' eyes and she's clutching onto the fabric of Nick's shirt. "Why is she so grown up?" she asks her husband, and he just shrugs, admiring the way his daughter skips into school with one hand on the handle of her backpack and one hand in Benjy's. 

The kids are in the door and Cece and Schmidt and Nick are ready to go, but Jess is still standing with a hand over her heart, sad about what just happened. "She doesn't even need me," she says, her lips in a pout.

"Face it, you're embarrassing, Jess," says Schmidt, and Cece and Nick kind of silently agree, afraid to say anything out loud due to Jess' more-fragile-than-usual state. 

"Am  _not_!"

"You wrote her a two-page note about how much you love her and stuck it in her lunchbox, Jess," Nick says, and Cece and Schmidt kind of just laugh at her, because they know if they wrote their kid any kind of note in his lunchbox, he'd just mistake it for a napkin.

"I know! I stuck stickers all over it and everything."

No one says anything, and then after a few seconds, Jess says, "God, I  _am_ embarrassing." 

—

She picks Elsie up at 1:30 on the dot, and Jess almost cries (happy tears) when her little five-year-old darts into her arms in the front of the school. "Mommy, mommy, mommy!", she's yelling. "We drew this," she says, and she holds out a piece of paper with a doodle of a little family - assumedly their family - on it. Her daughter is  _definitely_ not an artist, but Jess can still make it out. 

"That's my baby sister," she says, pointing at a scribble of pink on the left side of the paper. "Benjy says he's cooler than me because he has one."

Nick crouches down to his daughter and his wife's level and takes a look at the picture for himself, scrunching his nose at the sight of the baby sister Elsie added in her picture. "Nice, Schmidt, your kid is already a douche and he's  _five_ ," he says, turning back to Schmidt who's kind of just shrugging.

"So can I get one?" Elsie asks, tugging on the collar of Jess' shirt.

Jess laughs. She and Nick definitely talk about a sibling, maybe two, but they already have their hands full with this one and she still doesn't get why Cece and Schmidt want  _more_ , but. "One day," is all Jess says, and then she leans in and smooches her daughter all over, peppering kisses onto her tiny cheeks. "I missed you  _so much_ , baby girl."

"Why? I was only gone for a little bit."

"I still missed you. So did daddy." Jess turns back to her husband for confirmation, and Nick just nods.

"I like Kindergarten," Elsie says, "but I like being home with you more, mommy."

In that moment, Jess murmurs a, " _Yesss_!" under her breath, and Nick rolls his eyes at her.

"Let's go get you those caramel apples daddy promised you," Jess says, standing up and taking Elsie's hand in hers.

"And a sister?!" she asks with wide eyes, giving Jess' hand a squeeze.

"Umm... we'll talk."


End file.
